Geothermal Training Programme

The Short Course on Project Management for Geothermal Development was held at the United Nations Conference Centre in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in the two

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Short Course on Project Management for Geothermal Development

The Short Course on Project Management for Geothermal Development was held at the United Nations Conference Centre in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in the two days leading up to the 6th African Rift Geothermal Conference, October 31 – November 1. It was one of three pre-conference short courses and was organized by UNU-GTP at the request of the ARGeo-C6 Organizing Committee and the Icelandic Ministry for Foreign Affairs – ICEIDA. The course was a shortened version of two-week long short courses on project management previously held in Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti in 2015. The course was attended by 34 participants from 11 ARGeo target countries: Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, DRC, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.

The objective of the short course was to introduce participants to concepts that project managers should master in order to make the most of their geothermal development projects. The participants were thus introduced to general aspects of project management, specific aspects of the management of geothermal projects, key concepts of the IPMA Competence Baseline (ICB), risk, scope, change, cost, time, procurement and more. Specific attention was given to project management during the drilling stage of geothermal projects.

Lecturing was in the hands of Mr. Yngvi Gudmundsson and Mrs. Carine Chatenay from Verkís Consulting Engineers in Iceland, Mr. Anthony Ng‘ang‘a Ngigi from Geothermal Development Company in Kenya and Mr. Peketsa Mwaro Mangi from Kenya Electricity Generating Company. Yngvi and Carine have previously contributed to the development of the two week long short courses and taught in the Six Month Training Programme in Iceland. Anthony and Peketsa completed the Six Month Training in 2015 and have since obtained C-level certification as project managers by the International Project Management Association (IPMA). The cooperation between the Icelandic and Kenyan lecturers, with their different backgrounds and some variation in perspectives, resulted in an enriched learning experience for participants and it is hoped that further opportunities for such cooperative efforts will materialize in the future.

The short course was sponsored by the Icelandic Ministry for Foreign Affairs – ICEIDA and the Nordic Development Fund through the Geothermal Exploration Project, a sub-project of the Geothermal Compact in East Africa.